Frititi Traditional African Drumming & Dance Ltd

Nii Tagoe was born in Accra, Ghana, into a royal family made up of master drummers and dancers, from whom he inherited his talent for drumming, dancing and singing. He came to Britain in 1990 as a principal dancer, drummer and teacher in the Adzido Dance Company and has since choreographed many dances, including Peter Gabriel's floor show at the London Millennium Dome. After leaving Adzido, Nii went on to self-fund the start of his own drumming and dance company Frititi in 1993, which was created to explore, develop and pass on to future generations artistic expressions through music, dance and rituals. Nii's challenge is to project a more positive image of Africa and to help dispel the myths and negative stereotypes of the African continent and its people. He also aims to develop a sense of self-awareness within the individual and a global awareness of Africa and its rich culture through his work. Frititi implements its mission through workshops, performances, youth programs, promotion of new artists, production work, lecture demonstrations, community outreach and creative partnership programs with renowned artists and other performing companies. As the Artistic Director of Frititi, Nii brings to all his work a lifetime's immersion in his deep knowledge of the diverse dance rhythmic traditions of Ghana. His experience ranges from 24 years of travel, learning and performing around the African continent (especially in Zulu Land and throughout Central, South and West Africa), to touring productions and workshops around Europe, Israel, Canada, The Middle East and Asia. Nii has toured extensively as percussionist, singer and composer with world music chart toppers: Baka Beyond, African Headcharge, ADF Soundsystem, Osibisa and Lorraine Ayensu & Band amongst others and also runs his own band - The Afro Funk Crew. Nii also hopes to inspire others with his music, and hopes to tour more of his work around the world so as to reach out and share his passion with others. He also believes in building a more cohesive representation of the rich cultures that exist within Africa by merging them together through various platforms. Previous projects with the government in Brazzaville, Congo saw more than 500 local Congolese being auditioned and trained by Nii and his team over weeks, to put together shows that showcased the dance and music cultures from the African continent for the Fespam Festival in 2005 as well as the African Youth Cup Championship in 2007. In recent years Nii has worked with IRIE! dance theatre, ADiaspora Collective, ADAD, and WAC Performing Arts and Media College; performed at the Southbank Centre, WOMAD, and Tribe of Doris. He has also been actively promoting African performing arts in Asia, with Singapore as his main grounds via the annual Singapore Formula One Grand Prix event, as well as festivals/events with the likes of the Asian Civilisations Museum, and Timbre Music Singapore. He is currently working on his next album, scheduled to be launched in 2014. Following its launch, plans for a tour around the album are also in the works. In true pursuit of his passion for the African culture, Nii also continuously studies African music and dance as a foundation for his own work. In short, Nii lives and breathes the Afro-spirit.